Hi everyone,

I need your advice urgently as I need to make quick decision after waiting for two years not knowing what to do.
My husband is British citizen while I'm an illegal immigrant here in the UK. We did a church wedding two years ago in our church
which is a pentecostal church, but we couldn't legalize our marriage as I am not eligible to apply for certificate to marry.

We were planning to go to Nigeria after his graduation so that he can get a good job and so able to support me financially. Now I'm
pregnant and My Doctor said I might have to pay thousands of pounds for pregnancy care. It is also really hard to continue leaving
illegally in this country especially when the baby comes in to it and we want to sort this out before the baby is due.
I have an account running in Nigeria and I have some money going into it consistently.

However, I want to know if I can apply to support myself with my bank account statement in Nigeria and how long thus it take to go through the application process.

One of the Lawyers I've seen here also told me I can apply for COA "certificate of approval" to marry here in UK even as an illegal immigrant, thus anybody know anything about this.

If your marriage was solemnized by the Pastor of the Church and documented in writing in front of other witnesses, then you are LEGALLY married. Dont let anybody strip you of your legal status.

Ndipe:

If your marriage was solemnized by the Pastor of the Church and documented in writing in front of other witnesses, then you are LEGALLY married. Dont let anybody strip you of your legal status.

She is "legally" married where? She has no legal status in the UK so under what code is she a "legally" married member of British society?

Go back to Nigeria o jare.

Godislove . . . living illegally in another country is against the bible.

4 Him:

Godislove . . . living illegally in another country is against the bible.

ouch

@4 him
Ur very ignorant for your statments, ur hiding behind the bible but i really sense bad-belle from you,

She is simply asking for an option and not to be crucified by ur dumb ass.

idiot

Godislove:

One of the Lawyers I've seen here also told me I can apply for COA "certificate of approval" to marry here in UK even as an illegal immigrant, thus anybody know anything about this.

Lol,th COA is only applicable to people with limited leave to remain in the UK.

You possible option is to apply for (FLR(m) as unmarried partner in a relationship akin to marriage(with documentary proof of at least 2 years of living together).
Your marriage in the church may not be recognised if a licence was not sorted from the Marriage registry by  your church for the marriage.
Since the father of the expected baby is British, the Baby will be British at birth(even when you are illegal).You have to pay for your NHS cost as an overstayer except you put in your application to the Home Office to regularise your stay before your EDD.
For an an accredited Immigration advisers contact website below.


http://www.oisc.gov.uk/

yrunvus:

@4 him
your very ignorant for your statments, your hiding behind the bible

Matt 22: 21They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.

- i suppose that includes obeying Caesar's immigration rules.

You cant decietfully use IDs like Godislove while blatantly falling foul of stipulated immigration rules, attempting to defraud the state by claiming benefits you dont qualify for and trying to hoodwink the system into granting you rights you shld not have.

yrunvus:

but i really sense bad-belle from you,

bad belle over what? That i dont have a husband or i'm not pregnant?

yrunvus:

She is simply asking for an option and not to be crucified by your dumb ass.

she is not asking for an option, it seems she's run out of options and is desperately grasping at straws. She didnt say anything until she suddenly realised she would be forced to pay thousands of pounds in hospital bills . . . rather than sponge off an insurance system that millions of law-abiding British citizens have faithfully combined their taxes for.

Is she just realising life as an illegal immigrant is difficult?

yrunvus:

idiot

thanks bro. People like you convince me further that many Nigerians are indeed inherent criminals.

My husband is British citizen while I'm an illegal immigrant here in the UK

is your husband, Nigerian british or white british?

if white british, go together to naija; get married there and you can apply for UK stay.

if nigeria british; good luck.

baby your have you full right there even if its an EU member state you marriage you are still legal.not talking about you are been married for year.girl no fear

My advise for you is simple come back to naija and get married the apply for a spouse visa and then come back to Uk. The maximum time people spnd in naija for this is 3 months but i'm 100% sure if you get it right u can spend more than 1 month. This is if your pregnancy is in the early stage if not i would advise you to go after giving bith dont risk giving birth in naija.

As per medicals did you tell your doctor u are illegal? Are you not registered with a GP because there are thousands of illegally immigrants giving bith here even visitors.

I'll advise you wait for your husband to take up a job before applying at least for 6 months or if he his working fulltime now even if the salary is small u can then use your savings to support your application.

The documents you ned at the embassy are;

Evidence of relationship with husband - e.g. marriage/birth certificate, evidence of communication, photographs

Evidence of husbands immigration status in UK and copies of passport

Previous divorce papers for applicant/husband (if appropriate)

Evidence of employment and current financial circumstances of applicant and husband

Evidence of accommodation

As an illegal immigran you cannot get a COA lailai. If your husband can produce 6 months bank statemets and payslips and evidence that he can accomodate you in his house u should not spend more than 1 month d most i've heard of pple spending is three months and thats because they dont get it right

watch red tv on sky thats channel 186 mon to fri 4.30pm to 5.30pm and minority blah blah blah or is it legal affairs on sky channel 204 or 194 its on either of the tow on mon 8pm to 9pm give them a call best talk to them when they are off the show so as to tell them your true situation and they would be able to give u candid advise

Thanks everyone for your advice and criticisms. Thank you so much demi2008, your contribution has been most helpful in making my decision, we will be going to Nigeria in august and I will keep you updated with the progress, God bless you. x

Godislove,

Go and see an accredited immigration adviser before making a decision to go back to Naija for a settlement visa.If your husband is a British citizen or a ILR holder and have leaved to gather for 2 years there is no need going to naija.
Don't make an uninformed decision.
I wish you all the best and a good motherhood life.

demi2008:

My advise for you is simple come back to naija and get married the apply for a spouse visa and then come back to Uk. The maximum time people spnd in naija for this is 3 months

u should not spend more than 1[b] month d most i've heard of people spending is three months and thats because they don't get it right[/b]

Not totally true. If she is refused, she will spend nothing less than a year in Naija.

Do not forget that she is illegal in UK and looking at her case ''negatively'', they would probably think she is really desperate to get married so that she can regularize her stay and to ''cement'' the whole thing, she has chosen to get pregnant. Her preganancy cannot do the trick here so it will not really influence the ECO's decision, reason why, whether the baby is born in Naija or Taiwan, the baby is already eligible to citizenship thanks to the father's status.


I know someone that when through something similar just that the guy was illegal while the wife was legal and she was not pregnant. He was in Naija for close to 1year 6months (after being refused) but he appealed the decision and was eventually given the visa.

brownbonno:

Godislove,

Go and see an accredited immigration adviser before making a decision to go back to Naija for a settlement visa.If your husband is a British citizen or a ILR holder and have leaved to gather for 2 years there is no need going to naija.
Don't make an uninformed decision.
I wish you all the best and a good motherhood life.

Brownbono is right. Do not make any hasty decision. Yeah, a very good lawyer will tell you what to do and give you various options.


Akolawole and VOR are also very knowledgable on such issues. If only, they could suspend their ''sabbatical''

Thanks guys, but I've seen several lawyers ,in fact we've paid over £800 on consultation fees and different lawyers said different things. Some said I should go back, some said I should go to a church of england that I've never been before. I don't really want to go and get stuck in Nigeria with my baby for a year in Nigeria but

My husband went to the citizen advise bureau and they reckon my situation is impossible except I go to Nigeria even with proves that we've been living together for two years.
Please funkybaby who is the Akolawole that you talked about? Can I get in touch with them?

Thanks again.

In the light of your situation i am sure you have not provided enough information to your Solicitors to arrive at an up to decision on the right options.
If i may ask,
1.Do you have proof of your initial entry into the UK(Visa)(not very important)?
2.Do you have 2 years documentary evidence as a proof of your cohabition with your partner(utility bills,bank statement etc)?
3.Do you and your partner have an accommodation ?
4.Can you sustained yourself financially without recourse to public funds?

If the answer to the above questions is YES.I suggest your best option is to apply/submit an application for the extension of leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the unmarried partner of a person present and settled in the UK.

NOTE:If there is an enforcement against you before your application is made to the Home office,your 2 years cohabitation will be lost.Applying for EC from Nigeria means you have to fulfill all the immigration requirement for a fiance/married/spouse visa.Finally be aware that overstayers will have a UK EC ban for up to 10 years as from October 2008.
I hope you will not bring the new baby into this brouhaha.

brownbonno:

Lol,th COA is only applicable to people with limited leave to remain in the UK.

You are correct. The COA was applicable to people that had at least three months remaining on their visa, but there is currently a case in court that people being forced into procuring a COA to get married is a violation their human rights. I think I read that the COA is legless till the outcome of this case.

Godislove, get your solicitor to go through this titbit of information with a fine-toothed comb.

The Home Office have lost twice on the COA issue and is due for the House of Lords hearing.But its still closed to illegals except through the Church of England(but some vicars do request proof of residence)

brownbonno:

The Home Office have lost twice on the COA issue and is due for the House of Lords hearing.But its still closed to illegals except through the Church of England(but some vicars do request proof of residence)

Thanks for the clarification.

Hi God is love. so wats happened so far on the issue? has it been resolved? i just checked the date of ur update and realised it 2008, meaning u must ve given birth, i wish u all the success. holla bk on here, lets see if there is anything i can do to help./

brownbonno:

The Home Office have lost twice on the COA issue and is due for the House of Lords hearing.But its still closed to illegals except through the Church of England(but some vicars do request proof of residence)

Thanks honey, Home Office lost the case again.

I know this is late Baby Daddy, but just wanted to use style to tell you to quit running cos you are owing me and our 7 kids child support money for the past 11 years, so abeg come home, we don miss you sotay

just last week the church of england in my area married an illegal immigrant friend of mine to his british wife. the law in article 6 of the European Convention on Human Right 1998 has been used to confront the issue of application of Certificate of approval. COA which is excempted to people gettin married in the anglican and this extends to every human being regardless of thier legal status in this country so who eva is writting all these crap should get thier facts

CONTINUED:: right. learnt nigerians have reputaion of o many thingas but didnt know being unhelpful na dbeing scronful is one of them, her case is actually easier than she thought, do contactme miss, if this case is still unsolved and there are clear ways out and applications u can send to the home office to get ur discretionary leave to stay because of your condition and situation. as long as ur partner is married to u or have the intention and he is british or have legal status here. u are one step to ur naturalization.

sam-d-law:

just last week the church of england in my area married an illegal immigrant friend of mine to his british wife. the law in article 6 of the European Convention on Human Right 1998 has been used to confront the issue of application of Certificate of approval. COA which is excempted to people gettin married in the anglican and this extends to every human being regardless of thier legal status in this country so who eva is writting all these crap should get thier facts

sam-d-law:

CONTINUED:: right. learnt nigerians have reputaion of o many thingas but didnt know being unhelpful na dbeing scronful is one of them, her case is actually easier than she thought, do contactme miss, if this case is still unsolved and there are clear ways out and applications u can send to the home office to get your discretionary leave to stay because of your condition and situation. as long as your partner is married to u or have the intention and he is british or have legal status here. u are one step to your naturalization.

Who is talking crap, who is refusing to help What hole did this dumbolina of a doofus crawl out of Didn't you read mine and Brownbono's post written in 2008 that illegals can still get married in Church of England English Comprehension dey worry you bad, shame


Odoyo oshi, see his mouth like "my illegal friend got married last week" Elenu yama yama oshi What should she contact you for, Mr 419 and Mago Mago, barawo like you

i bet ur illegal as well. and ur composition of English shows evidence of illiteracy couples with that language u wrote also. talking bout sum1 wrote sum thing in 2008 about sum being able to get married in the church of England without any authority to back it up is unleaded of u lot. i have advised a whole lot of people in this regards and u can look me up which i think u would. on a no win no fee basis, sam on Norton Rose law firm. scornful people, a poor lady just askin for advice on a forum and ya'l just thought cos shes got a way ahead of you lot in her immigration status unlike you, fort to put her down, dissing God is love like shes personally offended you. plum heads

@4him
you are a useless hypocrite.

YOU NEED A LAWYER I CAN GIVE YOU AGOOD ONE THAT IVE USED BEFORE BUT HE DOES CHARGE IF YOU ARE IN MANCHESTER FIND THE ASUMILE SOLICITOR ON dICKENSON RD LONGSIGHT DONT TAKE TO MUCH ADVICE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO DO SO

Your so called husband should be able to find out from the UK authorities on how to go about it, if he is educated and can use the internet, let him go to www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk. if both of u are not educated and you dont know how to use the internet, then you are on your own.

This post sounds so familiar i gat ma 2cent which i am soo soo sooo soooo sure about when u get married u must be granted entry into the uk, as far as u can prove to the consular that the marriage is for real, them must give u visa trust me, cause i know pple wif worse scenarios and dey are back in the uk happily married, so babes go and do ur fing .

sam-d-law:

i bet your illegal as well. and your composition of English shows evidence of illiteracy couples with that language u wrote also. talking bout sum1 wrote sum thing in 2008 about sum being able to get married in the church of England without any authority to back it up[b] is unleaded of u lot[/b]. i have advised a whole lot of people in this regards and u can look me up which i think u would. on a no win no fee basis, sam on Norton Rose law firm. scornful people, a poor lady just askin for advice on a forum and ya'l just thought cos shes got a way ahead of you lot in her immigration status unlike you, fort to put her down, dissing God is love like shes personally offended you. plum heads

Olofo, you are Sam that works in Norton Rose indeed I know Britain is the dyslexia capital of the world, but dis ya own okrika English na die, barawo wannabe

Poster read this link http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/while-in-uk/marriageandcivilpartnership/documents/

Have way down, it says --- "You do not currently need a certificate of approval if you are getting married within the Anglican Church in England and Wales."

Hope that helps you. Good luck.